each other. When superiority theories explain how people express superiority, alienation and differences through humour, relief/release theories explain the reaction of people’s body through the action of laughter and how humour is constructed and cognitively processed is explain in incongruity theories.
This section provides a brief overview of the complex of humour concept and the theories behind its mechanism. Although the definition of humour varies from context to context depending on the perspectives of the research, it is widely acknowledged that humour is a social phenomenon, which involves incongruous meanings that evoke amusement in some manner (Banas et al., 2011; Martin, 2007).
5.3. Functions of humour
It is not surprising that …show more content…
During the 1960s, the majority of humour studies in education centred around the relationship between humour and its effect on learning. There was a focus shift around 1980s when researchers investigate the effects of humour on classroom environments and learning motivation. Either approaching humour from quantitative or qualitative methods, humour seems to have positive functions in classroom settings suggested by most research. According to Stuart and Rosenfeld (1994: 98) “teachers’ use of humor effective as a means of establishing rapport and developing open, supportive communication climates”. Similarly, Spåre (2008 in (Paajoki, 2014)) advocates that humour offers “an opportunity to enhance positive interaction in the pedagogical relationship”. In other words, humour is considered positive in relation to both classroom atmospheres and teacher-student rapports. Studies also indicate the positive role of humour as a smart way to stimulate and retrieving knowledge from previous lessons (Duffy and Jones, 1995). In language learning sphere, not only does humour facilitate classroom environments and learning, research shows that it also an effective means to comprehend the socio-cultural contexts of language (Muqun and Lu, 2007). According to this study, due to the cross-cultural differences, it is challenging for students to understand target language …show more content…
It is suggested that teachers need to take into consideration students’ reactions prior to carrying out humour in classrooms. Without a careful consideration, teachers’ humour might be misunderstood and be interpreted as threat rather than fun and amusement. In a study of students’ perceptions of teachers’ humour, Anttila (2008 in Paajoki (2014)) found that students respond both positively and negatively to teachers’ humour. According to this study, negative teacher humour comprises demeaning, mocking, humiliations and joking or laughing on someone’s expense (Anttila 2008 in Paajoki (2014)). As a consequence, students felt irritated, inferior to other students and even depressed. Anttila’s research reveals that whether the target of teacher humour is on the class or an individual student, its effects are likely to affect negatively on the motivation level of students, the atmosphere of the classroom and the teacher-student relationships. Although the negative effect of humour can result in harmful consequences to the classrooms, it is not the case that positive types of humour can always result in positive students’ perception and vice versa. In Saharinen’s study of teachers’ use of teasing humour (2007) during Finnish and literature lessons has indexed of closeness. Instead of perceiving teachers’ teases as aggressive
This section provides a brief overview of the complex of humour concept and the theories behind its mechanism. Although the definition of humour varies from context to context depending on the perspectives of the research, it is widely acknowledged that humour is a social phenomenon, which involves incongruous meanings that evoke amusement in some manner (Banas et al., 2011; Martin, 2007).
5.3. Functions of humour
It is not surprising that …show more content…
During the 1960s, the majority of humour studies in education centred around the relationship between humour and its effect on learning. There was a focus shift around 1980s when researchers investigate the effects of humour on classroom environments and learning motivation. Either approaching humour from quantitative or qualitative methods, humour seems to have positive functions in classroom settings suggested by most research. According to Stuart and Rosenfeld (1994: 98) “teachers’ use of humor effective as a means of establishing rapport and developing open, supportive communication climates”. Similarly, Spåre (2008 in (Paajoki, 2014)) advocates that humour offers “an opportunity to enhance positive interaction in the pedagogical relationship”. In other words, humour is considered positive in relation to both classroom atmospheres and teacher-student rapports. Studies also indicate the positive role of humour as a smart way to stimulate and retrieving knowledge from previous lessons (Duffy and Jones, 1995). In language learning sphere, not only does humour facilitate classroom environments and learning, research shows that it also an effective means to comprehend the socio-cultural contexts of language (Muqun and Lu, 2007). According to this study, due to the cross-cultural differences, it is challenging for students to understand target language …show more content…
It is suggested that teachers need to take into consideration students’ reactions prior to carrying out humour in classrooms. Without a careful consideration, teachers’ humour might be misunderstood and be interpreted as threat rather than fun and amusement. In a study of students’ perceptions of teachers’ humour, Anttila (2008 in Paajoki (2014)) found that students respond both positively and negatively to teachers’ humour. According to this study, negative teacher humour comprises demeaning, mocking, humiliations and joking or laughing on someone’s expense (Anttila 2008 in Paajoki (2014)). As a consequence, students felt irritated, inferior to other students and even depressed. Anttila’s research reveals that whether the target of teacher humour is on the class or an individual student, its effects are likely to affect negatively on the motivation level of students, the atmosphere of the classroom and the teacher-student relationships. Although the negative effect of humour can result in harmful consequences to the classrooms, it is not the case that positive types of humour can always result in positive students’ perception and vice versa. In Saharinen’s study of teachers’ use of teasing humour (2007) during Finnish and literature lessons has indexed of closeness. Instead of perceiving teachers’ teases as aggressive